Summons has to be served by June 18.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: A US federal court in Washington, DC has told the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) advocacy group that it has until June 18 to serve the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a summons in their ongoing human rights case against the Indian leader, or else the case will be dismissed.
The court order was issued on April 18, and says that the SFJ will need to file a proof of service on or before June 18. The order is just another roadblock for the SFJ, which have had myriad setbacks in their cases against prominent political leaders in India for their alleged involvement in anti-Sikh activities in the country.
The judge overseeing the Manmohan Singh case is US District Judge James E. Boasberg, who penned the April 18 order.
In order to serve the summons, the SFJ has been permitted to use alternative methods, such as email, social media, and “service by publication,” in order to ensure that Singh is given his summons and appears in court.
According to the SFJ, Singh was complicit in a number of anti-Sikh insurgency operations throughout the north-western Indian state of Punjab, which is known for its dense Sikh population. These operations purportedly took place in the 1990s, and led to the slaying and torturing of over 100,000 Sikhs at the time.
The SFJ has also run into trouble with their other ongoing case against Sonia Gandhi, who they allege sanctioned the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in 1984 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Gandhi and her Congress Party have countered, asking the US courts to dismiss the case on the grounds that it is not only without merit, but that the statute of limitations on it has long since expired.
SFJ has said that they plan to serve the summons on Singh after the ongoing elections in India are over.